Some Nights
by Eternity's Angel of Mercy
Summary: This story takes place during Once More, With Feeling (the second installment of The Bucket List Series) and follows Kasumi as she attempts to reunite Shepard and Garrus, as well as work out her own romance issues. KasumixThane one-shot request by MusicalRain.


**Some Nights**

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_Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is a KasumixThane one-shot by request by MusicalRain. This story takes place during Once More, With Feeling (the second installment of The Bucket List Series) and follows Kasumi as she attempts to reunite Shepard and Garrus, as well as work out her own romance issues. _

_Song credit: "Some Nights," by Fun._

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"Those two are impossible," Kasumi grumbled, sinking into a seat in the mess hall. It was nearly two in the morning and Kasumi found herself up late, as usual, and trying to play matchmaker. Her success rate was looking pretty bad, however, and she needed someone to complain to. Even if that _someone_ has the emotional range of a wet sponge.

Miranda glanced up from the chicken salad she was poking at, cocking an eyebrow. She tossed a glance around her, making sure no one else was there, before she replied, "Are you talking to me?"

Kasumi's head tilted to the side, much like a curious dog. "Who else would I be talking to?"

Miranda went back to poking the leafy greens with her fork. "Perhaps you could try telling me who you are complaining about?" she drawled, voice bored.

"Garrus and Shepard, of course," Kasumi replied, as if it were obvious. "This stupid breakup is driving me insane. All they need is just one little push at the right time and they'd be happy again! I don't understand why they don't see what they have in front of-" she then frowned, her nose scrunching up. "Why are you eating chicken salad at two in the morning?"

Miranda rolled her eyes, pushing her bowl away and meeting Kasumi's gaze. She tried to, anyway; it was hard to see anything over her low-drooping hood. "Why are you telling me about Garrus and Shepard? It's completely unprofessional for them to be together in the first place. No one will respect Shepard if everyone realizes she has such a soft spot for the turian. Shepard knows that, so she's keeping a distance."

Miranda almost regretted her words; they were harsher than she intended. Honestly, though, she was sick of everyone talking about those two breaking up. Working with this crew was like living in a sorority. Not to mention the fact Jacob had been acting a bit distant now that the Commander was available…

Kasumi seemed to catch on to Miranda's thought process because she asked coyly, "How are you and Jacob?"

"Are you quite done wasting my time?" Miranda snapped. "Go bother someone else with your high school antics. I am busy."

"Mmhmm," Kasumi hummed, glancing over at the data pad Miranda had been poring over. It was a dating site. Kasumi grinned, getting to her feet. "Have fun with that. Be sure to warn them you're a control freak beforehand, though. It'll keep you from _wasting time_ with guys who actually have a spine."

She flounced away from the table before Miranda could say anything. Smiling to herself, Kasumi wandered toward her usual hidey-hole in the lounge. As the pneumatic door slid open with a soft hiss, she was shocked to find her room already occupied.

"Well hello there," she said with a grin.

Thane turned his large, dark eyes to her, seeming surprised. "Kasumi. I apologize, I assumed you were out for the evening."

Kasumi noticed the glass in his hand and the bottles on bar top. "No worries, Krios. What's your poison?" She was already moving toward the bar, grabbing the bottles and glancing at the labels.

"I'm afraid I am not very good a mixing drinks," he groused, putting his glass down on the bar. "Everything I have concocted tastes terrible."

"Well then, you've come to the right girl," Kasumi divulged with a grin. She put the bottles Thane had pulled out away, procuring two smaller flasks. One of them was a deep, nutty brown color and the other looked like blood. "What has you drinking tonight, Krios?" Kasumi ventured, pulling two glasses down from a shelf behind her.

Thane didn't speak for a moment, instead steepling his fingers in front of him, elbows on the bar top. "Some nights require a drink to ease them," he said finally, somehow managing to give absolutely nothing away with the statement.

Kasumi nodded, more to herself than to him, as she uncapped a bottle and began to pour the brown colored liquid into the glasses. She stopped when the tumblers were half full before grabbing the other bottle. She only added a few splashes of the red into it, turning the entire mixture a strange, swirling mess of what looked like mud and blood.

Thane began to reach for a glass when Kasumi held a finger up, asking him to wait. She rummaged around in the bar area before procuring a small stirring straw. She used it to artfully transform the red blobs in the mixture into graceful flowers.

Thane watched her work, her movements quick and artful. When she finished and passed him the drink, he finally looked up at her. "I have never seen anything like this before."

Kasumi shrugged, a small smile tugging her lips. "It's nothing, really. We humans like to try to make everything pretty. We're superficial like that."

"It is beautiful," Thane smiled, taking the glass and sipping the liquid. It was strong and burned like fire down his throat. It had been a long time since he had imbibed alcohol – almost fifteen years prior to tonight. "Where did you learn to mix drinks like this?"

Kasumi chuckled, sipping from her own cup. "I was born in an area of Japan that relied on tourists to survive. It is affectionately called the Snow Country." She paused, glancing up at Thane, seeming amused by his rapt attention. "We could get anywhere up to 2 meters of snow in a single winter, and it would be so cold that it never melted. People would come from all parts of the galaxy to see it, and to visit our hot springs."

"I remember hearing of it. The Toyama Prefecture?"

"That's right," Kasumi murmured, moving toward the couch she had dubbed as her own. Thane turned in his chair to watch her as she made herself comfortable. "My parents owned a few hot springs and some land, along with one of the best inns. I was the youngest of five children, so we all got roped in to small jobs to keep the guests happy and amused. When I was younger, I did face-painting for the children. I was always artistic. As I got older, I began drawing little shapes into hot chocolate or mixed drinks that the guests would order from our restaurant. Eventually I started making the mixed drinks, since young females make great tips from drunken men."

"And then you became a master thief?"

It was hard for Thane to tell with her hood, but Kasumi seemed to be amused. "With that many rich tourists in one area, why not? It started out as minimal pick pocketing, and then some room infiltration and reconnaissance. Eventually I was scaling the roof and dropping into rooms through their windows."

"And no one ever caught you?" Thane pressed, his own mouth turning up in a smile.

"Not a one," Kasumi agreed, seeming extremely proud. "It wasn't long until I realized my calling and left Takaoka for good."

"Your family?" Thane asked, his tone soft.

Kasumi's lips pursed for just a moment before she replied faintly, "They're still there in Takaoka. Still serving hot chocolate and mixed drinks, just without the frilly flowers."

The pair fell into a moment of silence before Kasumi chuckled. "I don't think I've told anyone about that. About my old life."

Thane took another sip from his glass before murmuring, "May I join you?"

Kasumi scooted to the side of the couch, waving her hand. "Be my guest. And while you're at it, you have to fill me in on this assassin thing. You seriously make fighting it into an art form."

Thane chuckled as he moved to the couch, sitting on the opposite side of the couch. The drink was already loosening his muscles, making him feel limber and a little disoriented at the same time. "I was trained by the hanar. Most drell children are trained, given up as a thank you from the parents who were spared an agonizing death on Rakhana."

"That seems a little heartless," Kasumi murmured from behind her glass.

"Perhaps," Thane replied, unable to help the smile that overtook his lips. He hadn't smiled this much since… well, since Irikah had passed on. "The Compact was mutually agreed upon by the species, and the children were treated very well. The hanar respected and adored us in their own way."

"So you've been at this… since you were a kid?" Kasumi pressed.

"Since I was six. I made my first kill at twelve."

Kasumi thought about that for a time before taking another draught from her glass. "They did well when they trained you," she said finally with a smirk. "I've never seen anyone move so gracefully in combat. You make me envious."

Thane's large eyes regarded the human for a moment, seeming truly intrigued. "You aren't… depressed by my lack of compassion?"

"Compassion has nothing to do with being an assassin," Kasumi argued gently. She put her drink on the floor before crossing her legs under her on the couch, her body turned to face him. "Some people need to die. They deserve it. So when they are killed, I don't think of their killer as malevolent. You simply did something that needed to be done for the greater good."

"It's not always for the greater good."

"No," Kasumi agreed, picking up her drink and taking another long draw. "But who alive can say they do _everything_ for the greater good?"

The pair was silent for a moment before they said unanimously, "Shepard."

…

The pair met up like this for a few weeks, sometimes just sitting and talking, sometimes drinking. Sometimes Thane showed Kasumi a new move with a knife he had given her, and sometimes Kasumi showed him pictures of her old home in the Japan Alps.

One night while particularly tipsy, Kasumi perked up from the couch they were sprawled on and said, "You've taught me some moves… I think it's time I teach you some."

Thane chuckled, his gravelly voice full of amusement. "I have done a little theft in my time, Kasumi."

"Oh?" Kasumi giggled, getting to her bare feet. She padded across to the bar, depositing her glass in the sink. "Well then, how about a little friendly competition?"

"I am intrigued."

Kasumi's face split into a radiant smile. "I thought so. Okay, so here's what we are going to do…"

…

They had been caught, of course. Kasumi had thought Shepard would be distracted enough with stress and forlorn love-loss that she wouldn't notice Kasumi had taken one of her prized possessions – a model of the Destiny Ascension. The problem arose when Shepard came back to her cabin earlier than usual and honed in on the missing Ascension…while Kasumi and Thane had still been in the room.

Kasumi was cursing herself as she slipped out of Shepard's room, Thane trailing her, leaving their commander to mutter to herself in somewhat amused annoyance.

"Well, we can always steal something from Miranda's room?" she suggested, trying to keep the grin from her face as they entered the elevator, punching the Crew Deck button.

"Who says I did not get what I went in for?" Thane chuckled. He unfurled his fingers, which had been wrapped around a small, silver object.

Shepard's shower head.

Kasumi gaped before dissolving into a fit of laughter. "She's going to _kill _you when she finds out."

Thane shrugged as if it wasn't much of a problem. "I will just have to tell her I beat her master thief at stealing."

Kasumi cocked an eyebrow under her hood, rising to the challenge. "Alright then. The first person to steal something out of Miranda's room and get out, _without being caught, _is the new master thief?"

Thane lowered his head, as if considering it. "Agreed."

…

"This was a horrible idea," Kasumi whispered, trying to wiggle into a more comfortable position. Her back was being speared painfully by what she could only guess was a rack of high heels. Her front was mashed up against Thane, their bodies closer than advisable for coworkers to ever be.

Thane, however, was trying to refrain from laughing. "All of this for a hairbrush?"

"I thought she'd be out of the room longer," Kasumi replied curtly, but she felt her lips twitching upward in amusement. The hairbrush was tucked into Kasumi's back pocket, out of sight in case Miranda happened to look in her closet and find them. "Usually she has to swagger through the halls for at least fifteen minutes so everyone can admire her ass."

"I have never noticed. Do you typically admire her ass?"

Kasumi pushed Thane's chest playfully, making him chuckle softly. Kasumi could hear Miranda moving around her room on the other side of the closet door, murmuring to herself about needing a punching bag. She was probably in a mood thanks to Jacob's dwindling attentions.

Kasumi was jerked back into her current predicament as she noticed her cheek was now resting against Thane's chest and her hands had dropped to his waist in an almost-hug. She attempted to pull away, only to knock her head against the shoe rack behind her. It made a dull thump and caused spots to swim in front of her vision.

Thane covered her mouth with one hand and drew her close with the other, making sure she didn't fall or give them away. Kasumi rested against Thane, head throbbing and heart racing.

And for the first time in a very long time, her heart wasn't racing out of fear.

A few moments passed before Thane's hand dropped away from her mouth. She turned her gaze upward and could just barely make Thane's features out in the darkness. He was smiling faintly, his large eyes regarding her with something very akin to amusement.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked softly, bending so that his lips touched her hood as he spoke.

"Just peachy," she replied, her voice coming out breathy.

Thane chuckled and ran a hand over the back of her head, resting on the sore spot. She thought he might rub it at first, but instead he gathered the material of her hood in his hand, slowly dragging it from her face.

Without the hood, Kasumi found it was a bit lighter in the closet than she had originally thought. She watched Thane as he took in the sight of her mussed black hair, which fell in feathered wisps around her heart-shaped face. Her large brown eyes met his straight-on for the first time.

"You are beautiful," Thane murmured.

"I'm not," she replied easily, feeling her cheeks flushing.

Thane's thumb traced across her cheek, the pale flesh like satin. "You are."

Kasumi wasn't sure what drove her to do it but she stood on her tiptoes, her nose bumping against Thane's as she roguishly took his lips with hers.

His mouth was smooth yet tough, so different from human lips but immediately so much better. Kasumi couldn't understand why, after so long convinced that she had no more feelings left to completely dedicate to another man, she was suddenly overcome with emotion for Thane.

Thane, likewise, seemed to be suffering from the same feelings. His hands grasped her hips and he turned her so that she was pressed against the wall he had just been pinned to, his lips covering hers, tongue flicking against her mouth.

Kasumi opened her mouth to his exploring just as the closet door slid open with a hiss.

Miranda stood in the doorway, eye wide, her mouth open.

Thane pulled away from Kasumi slowly, as if unconcerned, before gently pulling Kasumi off of the wall. "Miranda," he greeted.

"Thane," she replied, her accent heavier than normal. Evidently shock did that.

"We were just leaving," Thane lied smoothly, his voice giving no hint to anything otherwise.

Miranda stood aside, still stunned, and Thane took Kasumi's hand in his, leading her out of the closet and toward the lounge.

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Author's Note:

These two are one of my absolutely favorite non-canon couples. I was so excited when MusicalRain requested that I do a bit of a back-story between their sudden but adorable coupling from_ Once More, With Feeling_.

If you guys like the pairing, let me know! I would be so happy to do more ThanexKasumi fics if there is a market for them!

Love love,

E.


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